Mark Crilley is from Detroit. After college, he spent several years teaching English in the Far East, first in Taiwan then in Japan. While living in Japan he wrote his first comic: Akiko on the Planet Smoo. The Akiko comics quickly became a success and in 1998 Mark was named one of the '100 most creative people in entertainment' by Entertainment Weekly. This led to a deal with Random House for a graphic novel series aimed at younger readers. Miki Falls, which draws on Mark's experiences in Japan, is his first graphic novel for teenagers.