I Love My Tamagotchi

Bronwen Komatsubara was half-Welsh, half-Japanese, and all heart. She lived on a tamagotchi farm in Japan with her irritating brother Ken, and for a brief period in 1997, she became an international star. Suddenly, her thoughts on virtual grief, her battles with the snooty rich-girl Rei, and her ongoing attempts to control her harrassed father with Japanese mind powers were being read all over the world. At the height of her fame, Bronwen was even translated into Dutch.

Bronwen Komatsubara didn't actually exist, although she got a lot of fan mail, especially, for some reason, from western Australia. Bronwen was a fictional character dreamed up by a harrassed author who had been given just two weeks to write a book about tamagotchi. Shortly after delivering the book, he suggested that there might be some more mileage in Japanese virtual pets. He proposed that Bronwen return in a sequel, the Virtual Monster Manual, in which she, brother Ken, and his even more irritating schoolfriends took on the next big fad from Japan. However, back in early 1997, the publishers didn't think this Pokémon thing would come to much, and so Bronwen's literary career was over after just one book.

It was, however, the first book ever written by Jonathan Clements, albeit in secret while commissioning editor Barry Cunningham twirled his moustache and cackled behind his cape. Bronwen's adventures would lead to the Wu Ying books, which would themselves lead to the Little Book of Chinese Proverbs, to the Moon in the Pines, and from there to the Pirate King. Which is quite a scary thought.

Years later, few can remember tamagotchi, and nobody remembers Bronwen, although quite a substantial number know what a Pokémon is. For this reason, among others, the author of I Love My Tamagotchi now gets impressive amounts of money to tell people what he thinks the next big fad from Japan will be.