Fred Stemme has always been interested in writing but like many beginning writers he didn't know what to write about. He had always thought that he would write a non-fiction book in the history field. Then he enrolled in a master's program at Drake University and wrote a paper on the Lost Generation. (That paper was later published in the Lost Generation Journal.) There was a book, he knew, lying in all of the research he had done to write the paper. But what kind of a book should it be? The answer that came back surprised him: "fiction."

Fred had often wondered in his history courses how the fluctuating economy and cataclysmic events effected the man in the street. Now he could apply that curiosity to historical fiction.

While attending numerous writing classes and starting an insurance agency, he hammered out Beguiling Dreams, his first book. The first draft has been finished to a sequel and several other books are planned, as well.