The Times Online reported Sunday, November 29, 2009 that the Australian author Colleen McCullough, who is suffering from a condition known as trigeminal neuralgia, will have surgery in January 2010 to relieve pressure on her brain. The disease is one which causes extreme facial pain.
McCullough, who was a neurophysicist before becoming a writer, recognizes the hazards involved in the surgery. "The biggest risk is surviving but not being me any more – that would be worse, I think," she said. "It's daunting when you know what you're in for and you know the risks. But you pay your money and you take your chance; it's that simple."
McCullough's Simon & Schuster publishers have canceled the author's promotional tour for Too Many Murders, the second title in her Carmine Delmonico mystery series, which was just released in the United States on November 30. McCullough remains with her husband of 25 years, Ric Robinson, at their Norfolk Island home until time for the surgery.
In addition to her recent series featuring Captain Carmine Delmonico, chief of detectives in Holloman, Connecticut, Colleen McCullough has authored ten standalone novels as well as her seven-volume Masters of Rome series. She remains best known, however, for her 1977 success with her novel The Thorn Birds. The Thorn Birds was adapted for television in 1983 and became an ABC mini-series with Richard Chamberlain in the role of Catholic priest Ralph de Bricassart and Rachel Ward as Meggie Cleary.
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