“It’s a bike, made out of bread, coming out of a book and taking flight. So that’s my life in a nutshell,” tweeted Emily Buehler in May 2017, essentially writing her own dose of Vitamin O. The tweet, describing a bread sculpture tribute to the Wright Brothers, distills Emily’s career journey and personal transformation. After learning to bake bread working for Weaver Street Market (where she is now the website and social media coordinator), Emily used her chemistry graduate degree to write a book about the science of bread-baking. “It was in my mind as this new thing I had learned and I really wanted to get that down on paper while I could still remember what it was like to be a beginner.” Emily is also a freelance science editor.
Emily self-published her second book, Somewhere & Nowhere this year. It is a memoir about her cross-county bike ride and the self-exploration it allowed. She is now working on a guide to self-publishing based on her experiences with both books. Similar to her goals for Bread Science, she is sharing her knowledge to increase access to others. “Self-publishing is a great outlet for authors who either don’t have access to or don’t want a traditional publisher.”
Emily now lives car free in Hillsborough where she rewards herself after a good day writing with a decaf latte at Cup-a-Joe. Through everything, a certain flair leaks through, hinting at her undergrad fine arts minor and her childhood ambition to be an artist. In addition to her professional writing, Emily is a devoted letter writer who loves the word “sincerely.” Says Emily, “I think it might be my favorite word… it’s beautiful to look at and I like what it means.”