Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Sky Daddy by Kate Folk, which will be published by Random House on April 08, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here.
Cross the jet bridge with Linda, a frequent flyer with a dangerous obsession, in this hilarious and provocative debut novel by the acclaimed author of Out There:
“I glimpsed many fine planes resting at their gates. A beefy Boeing 777 pulled back from F4, pivoting on his slender ankles, with surprising grace for such a big fellow. I spotted an old friend who went by the tail number N78823, an Embraer 175. I’d accompanied him to Salt Lake City a few months ago, and found him to be a playful lover, teasing me with a round of turbulence as we descended.”
To outside observers, Linda’s life might seem drab. Weekdays, she earns $20 an hour moderating comments for a video-sharing platform, then rides the bus home to the windowless room she rents in a garage on the outskirts of San Francisco. But on the last Friday of each month, she indulges her true passion: taking BART to SFO for a round-trip flight to a regional hub. Linda’s secret is that she’s sexually attracted to planes: Their intelligent windscreens, sleek fuselages and powerful engines make her feel a way that no human lover ever could. She believes her destiny is to someday “marry” one of her suitors by dying in a plane crash, a catastrophic event that would unite Linda with her soulmate plane for eternity. Linda is used to hiding her true nature, but when her coworker, Karina, invites her to a quarterly Vision Board Brunch, Linda sees a chance both to get closer to her work friend, and to nudge the universe on behalf of her destiny. However, as the vision boards seem to manifest items more quickly—and more literally—than Linda had expected, the carefully balanced elements of her life begin to spin out of her control, and she must choose between maintaining the trappings of normalcy or launching herself headlong toward her greatest dream. A subversive, unforgettable tale of the distances some will travel for true love, Sky Daddy examines desire, fate, and the longing to be accepted for who we truly are.
Here is the cover, designed by Sarah Horgan.
Author Kate Folk: “When I was first talking with my publishing team about the cover for Sky Daddy, we discussed vintage airline ads as a point of inspiration. There’s a glamour and beauty to these ads that feels apropos to a story about a woman who is romantically obsessed with planes. And the book also involves a lot of anthropomorphizing of planes—Linda describing planes as if they are sexy gentlemen, and comparing human men to various plane models. I knew there should be a plane on the cover, and I wanted that plane to have personality. ‘The plane should look sexy,’ I probably wrote. When I saw the first round of cover options, this one clicked for me immediately. I love how the red lettering pops against the cyan sky. The typeface feels unique and subtly evokes a retro vibe. I also love how the plane feels so active, its nose pointing upward, with an air of optimism and mischief. The book is in casual conversation with Moby-Dick, and this cover captures the spirit of embarking on a great adventure. It’s a cover that says, Get in, baby, we’re going for a ride.”
Designer Sarah Horgan: “The design directive for this project was ‘phallic planes’ and I had a lot of fun interpreting this task. The challenge was finding the balance between being too obvious and too subtle with the innuendo. One moment I would look at a cover and think ‘okay, I’ve gone too far’, and then look back and think ‘no, it’s not enough!’. The tone we wanted to convey was weird and darkly humorous. I took a lot of design inspiration from vintage airline ads, specifically their use of type and how they position the plane. I tried a range of styles from illustration, to photographic, to collage. In the end, we landed on a strategically cropped photo of a plane with bold 60’s inspired type. I think the final image sits on the subtler side of innuendo, but once you read the title and flip to the summary, you get it.”