WHEN Isobel Harrop was posting sketches online and tweeting about teenage life she had no idea she would become a voice of her generation.

The former Penketh High School pupil inadvertently became an author when her Twitter account caught the eye of Hot Keys Books when she was just 16.

Her thoughts, doodles, photographs and mini graphic novels have been published in a scrapbook style as The Isobel Journal.

Isobel said: “It was so bizarre. I think it's pretty amazing that people can post their writing, art and music online and get recognition in a way that only a privileged few might have done before the internet.

“Not everyone gets the lucky break I did, but it happens.”

Isobel told Weekend she feels ‘completely flattered’ after publisher Emily Thomas described her tweets as charming, funny and poignant and the book as a ‘work of art’.

The 18-year-old added: “The tweets came from the heart and were never meant to be read by loads of people.

“It’s the same with the drawings as lots of them came from my diary and school books.

“I think that sort of thing can be art, because it's a true representation of the person who made it.

“However, I hardly think we'll be seeing any of my doodles hanging up at the Tate any time soon.”

From the Pink Eye to Fiddlers Ferry, there are lot of Warrington landmarks to be recognised in the book.

But the town does not get off so lightly with Isobel describing herself as ‘just a northern girl from where nothing really happens’.

Isobel, who is studying English and philosophy at The University of Sussex, said: “I think a lot of people my age share the same love/hate relationship with the town as I do.

“We all want to be the cool kid hanging out at gigs in Manchester and shopping in Liverpool and being a socialite in London.

“But at the end of the day it's only with the backdrop of Fiddlers Ferry power station and the soapy scent of the Unilever factory lingering in the air that we really feel at home.

“While it might seem like I’m giving Warrington a bad wrap, really it’s affectionate.”

Isobel is currently living in Brighton for her studies but recently travelled home for a workshop for budding authors at Birchwood library.

Her own inspirations are author Jacqueline Wilson and illustrators like Nick Sharratt and Quentin Blake.

She added: “It is a bit scary knowing people are reading a lot of things I've said, especially the stuff that only my friends were ever meant to see.

“I feel a bit exposed sometimes and I'm scared I'm going to say or do something that will upset people.

“On the other hand, I'm really pleased I can be a role model.

“You don't get many northern teenage girls with such a platform.

“So I'm glad there are some girls out there – and some boys too – who can see their lives reflected in my book and hopefully it’ll make them feel good about themselves.”