MINGLING with the publishing elite, Debbie Williams was at the cutting edge of children's literature.

But when award-winning author Jacqueline Wilson and her illustrator Nick Sharratt sketched her during a drunken soiree she had no idea what would happen next.

The unassuming children's buyer from Lancaster became the face of Ellie Allard, the frizzy-haired narrator of the "Girls" series of books.

"When the publishers emailed the book pictures I could not believe it," said Debbie, who was Waterstone's children's buyer at the time.

"Nick was drawing me on a napkin and Jacqueline started making a few rough notes and they kept teasing me all throughout the night saying 'we're going to make you into a children's character'," Debbie said.

A generation of young girls identified with Ellie's insecurities in books including Girls in Love and Girls out Late, helping Jacqueline Wilson become the most borrowed author from British libraries from 2004-07.

"I have read the books and she isn't anything like me so it's a bit embarrassing," said Debbie, 35, who lives in Brookholme Court, Lancaster.

"My hair was a lot longer and I had round glasses then. I look a bit different now but people still recognise me.

"I think it was the book that came first then Jacqueline was searching for a face to go with it. However, I have read a couple of things that I have thought. She thinks her bum's too big and I've felt that before, but hey – who hasn't?"

Debbie began her Waterstone's career working at Lancaster's King Street store and in 2002 she was awarded the chain's national Bookseller of the Year award.

She now works at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.