I only discovered her books a couple of years ago as well - she was one who, I would always pass the shelf in the library or bookstore and think "Ugh, magical cat books, not my thing at all." Then a friend strongly recommended her, and I discovered that she did not, in fact, write books about magical cats (or at least, they weren't the main point), and thank you so much cover designers who kept me from discovering this wonderful quirky world YEARS ago.

So I was saddened, as well, to learn of her death, because I feel like I was still just getting acquainted with her, and now she's gone.

Your reaction sounds remarkably like my feelings when Lloyd Alexander passed away a few years ago - not just sorrow and shock (although I felt both of those), but a very strong sense of duty, that it was my task to take up his standard of story-telling and keep the tradition alive, because nobody else would. And it has helped my writing tremendously, and I only wish I had the chance to thank him for it.