San Francisco Writer Wins Webby Award, Internet's Highest Honor, for Website Based on her Novel
The Californer/10346956

SAN FRANCISCO - Californer -- Francisco writer Linda S. Slough has won both the prestigious Webby Award and the People's Voice Award for Best Personal Website/Blog in the 30th Annual Webby Awards. One of only a handful of creators this year to claim both honors, Slough was chosen over thousands of entries. Her winning website, Catherine's Adventures in Wonderland, is the companion to her forthcoming novel of the same name. A work of historical fiction, Slough's novel is deeply rooted in the landscapes, landmarks, and hidden histories of the San Francisco Bay Area

Hailed by The New York Times as "the internet's highest honor," the Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This year's judging panel included senior leaders from OpenAI, YouTube, TikTok, Meta, and PBS. Slough's site, scored with music from the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, was described by one voter as feeling "like moving through a beautifully curated museum."

"Linda S. Slough and Software Developer Angelita Garcia aren't just shaping the internet; they're redefining it," said Nick Borenstein, General Manager of the Webby Awards. "This honor celebrates the fearless creativity and sharp execution that make their work an unmistakable force online."

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"Creating my website by using music, artifacts, maps, tokens, and framed prose from my novel made me realize there is more than one home for my story. Winning the Webby proved it!" Linda S. Slough

In accepting her award on May 11th, Slough's traditional five-word speech, "What you see is fiction!" honored the creativity behind her novel.

A Decade of Treasure Hunting, Brought to Life Online

The story behind the website is as fascinating as the site itself. During the ten years it took to write her novel Slough realized that animating scenes from the book would introduce her characters and San Francisco's landmarks to the public. To achieve that goal, she spent years gathering source material at San Francisco Peninsula estate sales, rare book fairs, and Parisian flea markets.

The novel and website draw on these artifacts: a box of WWII love letters found in a forgotten desk drawer in Burlingame; a sketchbook of 1940s Parisian models in couture dresses that was purchased at the Antiquarian Fair in San Francisco's historic Hibernia Bank; original black-and-white construction photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge; and the last surviving Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Bellman's hat.

Linda S. Slough's website pays tribute to Charles Ellis, the engineer who calculated the Golden Gate Bridge's deflection, tower load capacity, and suspender cables, only to be fired and largely forgotten by history. Another deeply emotional scene honors the Top of the Mark's farewell corner, where 1940s wives and girlfriends gathered to watch their men depart for war.

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Slough teamed with Stanford graduate and software designer and developer Angelita Garcia to bring the novel's prose to life in framed vignettes animated above the streets of San Francisco. The result is an immersive digital experience that enhances the novel.

For more information, visit: www.catherinesadventuresinwonderland.com

About the Webby Awards:
The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading International awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet. Now in its 30th year, the Webby Awards receives entries from all 50 states and over 70 countries worldwide.

About Linda S. Slough
Linda S. Slough graduated from LSU with a degree in Journalism and has traveled all over the world, including Egypt, South America, and Europe, in search of treasures. She's passionate about 19th-century fashion, couture umbrellas, vinyl records of 1920s operas and symphonies, plumed hats, and first-edition books. She's been influenced by Diana Vreeland's fashion, Marcel Proust's prose, Modigliani's art, Lewis Carroll's characters, and L. Frank Baum's haunting question.

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