Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit. After graduating from Kalamazoo College in 1988, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English to students of all ages for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan in 1992 that he created the story of Akiko and her journey to the planet Smoo. First published as a comic book in 1995, the bimonthly Akiko series has since earned Crilley numerous award nominations, as well as a spot on Entertainment Weekly's It List in 1998. Mark Crilley is also the author of the Billy Clikk series for young readers and lives in Michigan with his wife, Miki, and son, Matthew.
Visit the author at www.markcrilley.com. The author lives in Novi, MI.