The oldest of four, Lynne Bliss grew up on a farm in the Midwest. Her father started out as a dairy farmer, but later became a plumber so he could spend more time with the family and take them on vacations. One vacation included a trip to Colorado.At age 12, Bliss and her family explored the West ñ Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota. ìIt was a big family trip, and my dad bought a used postal truck; and that was our camper,î Bliss said. ìHe had a big tent for he and my mom to sleep in, but built four bunk beds on each side for the four kids to sleep in.îHer father passed away when Bliss was 21. At that time, her mother, who had been a stay-at-home mom, went to work for the county administrator; however, in her spare time, her mother loved to write. ìShe wrote nine books,î Bliss said. ìShe finished the last one just before she passed away in 2010, but I followed through and made sure that last book was published.î Blissí mother wrote primarily western romances set in Wyoming and the western plains. Bliss, too, has a penchant for writing, but her career has taken her in a wide array of directions.After graduating from high school, Bliss stayed in the Midwest for several years before moving to Colorado in 1982. Within two weeks of her move, she secured a job with State Farm Insurance. ìI was the second female agent hired by State Farm in all of Wisconsin and Minnesota,î she said. ìWomen were not insurance agents back then.îIn 1987, Bliss left the insurance business and worked as a secretary with General Telephone and Electronics. ìBecause of GTE, I was able to get my bachelorís because they paid for it,î she said. In 1990, she earned a marketing degree from Regis University.While at GTE, Bliss found a home she wanted to purchase in Colorado Springs. However, she said GTE was on a slippery slope at the time. ìI found a house to buy, and I got laid off the week before I was supposed to close on the house.î Bliss did buy the house; but, she said GTE was at ìthe beginning of the end.îAfter working as a temp, Bliss found a permanent job as a secretary for another company. Later, she decided to pursue a writing career and set up a home-based office.As a freelance writer, Bliss wrote and edited for local and national publications. She met her husband, Frank Gonzalez, through a writing job for ìSingles Line Magazineî in Colorado Springs. ìI placed an ad, and I got five responses,î she said. ìBut he (Frank) wrote two pages, and he was so articulate and interesting.î The couple married exactly two years from the day they met.In the early 1990s, Bliss also volunteered for the police department. (She wrote many articles for national law enforcement publications.) Bliss followed a few of the local crime stories and tried her hand at writing a book based on a murder that occurred in Woodland Park, Colorado. ìTrue crime books were pretty hot,î she said. ìBut by the time I finished my book, they (publishers) were not interested.î Bliss eventually enrolled in the reserve police officer program. ìI went through all the training,î she said. ìI carried a gun and drove a cruiser all by myself.î Bliss stayed in the reserve police officer program five years while continuing to freelance as a writer and editor.In 1996, Bliss took a marketing and public relations job at an architectural firm in Colorado Springs. She worked at the firm three years before starting her own public relations firm, Bliss Communications. ìI marketed peopleís books and small businesses,î she said. Bliss helped market mostly local nonfiction writers. ìI would contact book stores,î she said. ìI would contact radio stations to see if they needed a guest; send out sample books to newspapers.î Bliss enjoyed the freedom of owning a business but also found the work unpredictable.She returned to her job at the architectural firm and also went back to college. In 2000, Bliss completed her masterís degree in human communication from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.In 2004, Bliss and her husband opted for a change in scenery and built a home in Falcon. ìHistory and the idea of a community that was just growing really appealed to me,î she said. Four years later, she was laid off from the architectural firm. Bliss said at that point she had sort of retired, but she was actively involved in the Falcon community and the newly formed chamber. Bliss met the editor of the ìRanchland Newsî at a chamber meeting, and soon after started writing for the newspaper before she officially retired a couple of years later.In 2007, Bliss chaired the Falcon/Peyton Master Plan Committee, sponsored by El Paso County. It was around that time that she also started the online website http://falconlady. com. ìI wanted something more timely that people could keep up with on a daily basis,î she said. On the site, she blogs and writes brief updates about local events, business and politics.In 2014, Bliss won a seat on the Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District board. ìI wanted to make sure that we followed through on getting financing for our rec center expansion and our wastewater treatment plants,î she said. ìAnd we accomplished both this year.î Blissís husband also serves on the board, and Bliss is currently the president.A couple of years ago, Bliss submitted one of her pieces ñ ìGunnison Massacre: a Turning Point in U.S. Relations with Native Americans and Mormonsî ñ to the Pikes Peak History Symposium. Bliss said she felt comfortable writing about the topic because she had heard stories about the massacre while growing up. Bliss learned that Capt. John Gunnison was her great, great grandfatherís half-brother. However, she later discovered that Gunnison was actually her seventh cousin seven times removed. ìIt was an interesting family story so I just followed up on it. The fact that he was massacred piqued my interest,î she said. ìIíve done a lot of research on Gunnison and probably have the most extensive Gunnison family history in the country.îBliss has a long list of accomplishments, which include putting in time and hard work to help shape the Falcon community. In her spare time, she enjoys ñ besides writing ñ genealogy and the Colorado outdoors, where she bicycles and hikes. Bliss said she and her husband also like to travel in their motor home, and one day she would like to add ìtravel writerî to her list of accomplishments.
