Ryan Andrews, his wife, two children, and their dog reside in the countryside of Japan. On the big acorn tree that shades the house, a friendly Kodama or two have been known to take up residence. Ryan works at his painting workstation in the early morning hours, surrounded by rummaging wild boar and badgers looking for shiitake mushrooms and fallen chestnuts in the nearby forest. His debut novel with First Second is This Was Our Agreement.