Fraire had his first short story published in 1973 and a year later his first non-fiction article. In 1974 he wrote his first novel: "Latino Jesse" an autobiographical fiction novel about growing up in a steel mill town, a Mexican-American and being neither Mexican nor American.
In 1975 he began working as a journalist and in 1986 accepted the position as Editor of The Windsor Times, in Windsor, California. During this time he had his first book published: "Windsor the Birth of a City," a non-fiction record of how Windsor went from an unincorporated area to cityhood. This book was followed by: "I Remember Healdsburg," a collection of historic memories from residents of Healdsburg, Ca. and "Daddy I Need to Go Potty" a humorous look at the life of a dad with two young daughters, ages 2 and 6 written while his daughters were 2 and 6.
After resigning his editor's job Fraire began working full-time as a graphic designer but continued to write and wrote two plays, with his brother John: "Who Will Dance With Pancho Villa" and "Cesar Died Today" both successfully produced in New York City. They also wrote the story and screenplay, "Stories of the Seasons" as part of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum Mexican American History Project. This was a planetarium presentation.
Fraire has recently completed a book titled "Mill Rats" a plot-driven novel about steel mill workers caught in the web of the Russian mob.
He is also working on, "The Incredible Kudos Kaper," a humorous satirical look at the American Culture. And he is working on a play, "Back Porch," which deals with the aging issues of the neighborhood Mexican-American grocer all revealed on the back porch of his apartment above the store.
With one hand still in the journalism Fraire helps edit and design two newspapers: the African-American owned weekly community newspaper, “The Carolina Peacemaker,” produced in Greensboro North Carolina and “Shalom Greensboro” the monthly publication of the Greensboro Jewish Federation.
Fraire also writes two monthly newspaper columns. One is titled "Off the Top of My Head" and has a focus on current life in America with topics both serious and humorous. These columns appear in the Sonoma West newspaper chain (the Healdsburg Tribune, The Windsor Times, Sonoma West Times and News, and the Cloverdale Reveille all produced in Sonoma County California). The other column, "Daddy I Need..." appears in the Upbeat Times, a monthly publication with only good news. These columns feature stories of a dad and his two young daughters. This newspaper is produced in Santa Rosa, California.
In 2013 Fraire was selected as the 2014-15 Healdsburg Literary Laureate.
