L.K. Madigan Reminds Us What's Important

Last week, the young adult writing world lost a piece of itself. L.K. Madigan, age 47, passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She is the recent author of two well-received books, Flash Burnout, and The Mermaid's Mirror.

I did not know the author, whose real name is Lisa Wolfson, but her untimely death has made me do some thinking. Sometimes we believe we have all the time in the world to write. That putting off our work in progress is not a big deal. It will happen sometime.

Not always.

Life happens. And we ought to embrace it like Madigan did. Twenty years ago, she battled breast cancer. She beat it, and went on to become a mother, a writer, and finally a published author. 

 Listen to this quote from Madigan:
“The main thing is to WRITE. Some days it might be 2000 words. Some days you might tinker with two sentences until you get them just right. Both days belong in the writing life. Some days you may watch a ‘Doctor Who’ marathon or become immersed in a book that is so good you can’t stop reading. Some days you may be in love or in mourning. Those days belong in the writing life, too. Live them without guilt.”

Madigan left behind a written legacy. She will live on through the memories of her family and friends, and through the wonderful worlds she created. Kind of makes you want to write today, right?

If we learn something from this lovely life, it's that family and dreams are vitally important. And that writing can leave a legacy for those that follow, regardless of whether it gets published. How are your priorities lately? Are you living the writing life?

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for this beautiful tribute, and a reminder of what is truly important. I am living the writing life, and thankful to be doing so, but family is always the top priority...

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  2. That's right, family must come before writing. But after that, writing ends up being for family. Kind of like a time capsule of our thoughts and ideas.

    ~Debbie

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  3. I agree that there's no point saying "Oh, I'll do it tomorrow." Every day counts. Every moment of every day.

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  4. Absolutely. That's why I'm going go write!

    ~Debbie

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  5. That was a beautiful post, Debbie. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment and, thinking back on what I've achieved since I started taking my writing seriously, should I be gone tomorrow, I'd have no regrets whatsoever.

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  6. You're right. There's nothing better than to live life with no regrets! Actually, my next novel deals with the topic of dying with regrets, and what would happen if someone could do something about it.

    ~Debbie

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