Really Enough is a collaboration between Margaret Zhao and Kathleen Martens.

Margaret Zhao

“Without wanting to share any details of my current life that may spoil the story for you, I cannot resist sharing the evolution of my memoir, Really Enough: A True Story of Tyranny, Courage and Comedy.

“At a social event in 2010, I casually shared a few of my childhood experiences, which drew instant interest from Kathleen Martens, a witty and magnetic woman in the group. I discovered she was a writer who had lived, worked and traveled throughout Asia in the seventies and eighties and had even visited a commune when China first opened to Americans.
The immediate connection we made led to the magical writing collaboration that brought my story to life.

“We came from two dramatically different backgrounds, yet she amazed me with her uncanny ability to translate my feelings directly from my heart into her elegant words and to catch the subtleties of the Chinese culture. Together we opened the blossom of my memories growing up in rural China in the tumultuous and oppressive times of Chairman Mao. We gave voice to those who in their time could not speak, and breathed life into the people whom I wished to honor from my past.

“It is my sincerest hope that my story will touch you, make you laugh and inspire you to get up and change your life to capture whatever dreams are in your heart.”

Kathleen Martens

Kathleen Langmaack Martens, a San Francisco Bay Area-based author with roots in the East Coast has a lifetime passion for writing and intercultural communications. After attending the Foreign Service Language Institute for one year where she studied intensive Thai Language and Southeast Asian Area Studies, she moved to Thailand and began her consulting career. While living and working in Southeast Asia as an intercultural consultant and trainer in Bangkok, Thailand and Jakarta, Indonesia, she helped employees of major US corporations adjust to life working in remote areas of the world. Traveling to China as one of the early tourists admitted to the country, she took in the sights and sounds of a commune that would later become a foundation for writing Really Enough: A True Story of Tyranny, Courage and Comedy with Margaret Zhao.

 

At a social event in 2010, Margaret Zhao shared stories of her early childhood in rural China under the tyranny of Chairman Mao. Martens took an instant interest in her fascinating past. This chance meeting led to their collaboration on Zhao’s memoir. Kathleen has a B.A. in English Literature and Sociology, and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut.