KINSMAN — Rebecca Nieminen’s debut novel, “The Dance of the White Deer,” either has been two decades or almost two centuries in the making, depending on how you look at it.

Nieminen, of Kinsman, said the idea for her historical fiction novel was born when she was working on a haunted Halloween series as a young reporter at The Vindicator in Youngstown. She stumbled across the story of 16-year-old Frances Maria Buell of Gustavus, who in 1832 was murdered by her stepfather after she rejected his sexual advances.

“The particulars of the tale read like an episode from a true-crime broadcast,” Nieminen said.

The legend tells that Frances Maria Buell, who went by Maria, ran from her home and took refuge at a neighbor’s house. Her stepfather said that if she came home to collect her belongings, he would leave her alone — but when she returned, he was waiting in the front yard with a butcher knife. The stabbing took place in broad daylight in front of witnesses, Nieminen said.

The story struck Nieminen, who had been a history enthusiast since she was a teen herself and already knew some background about northeast Ohio during that time period.

“I became really intrigued by it, not just as a ghost story, but more just feeling a lot of empathy for the girl and what she must have been going through,” Nieminen said.

Nieminen stressed that her novel is not a recounting of the historical story, though there were elements she wanted to keep.

She started with the question, “What would it have been like in 1832, to be 16 years old and your stepfather is trying to molest you? I mean, in modern society, we have problems talking about sexual abuse and there’s just a whole cloud of silence.”

One hundred ninety years ago, when the topic was even more taboo, it must have been “suffocating and unbearable,” for a young girl, she said.

From that question, Nieminen took her fictional protagonist, 16-year-old Limery Clark, in a different direction than the real-life Frances Maria Buell.

“Nineteen-year-old Aaron Harper is instantly smitten the first time he meets 16-year-old Limery Clark,” reads the summary for “The Dance of the White Deer.” “But Aaron, who comes from a fine, upstanding family, doesn’t comprehend the shameful weight of Limery’s hardscrabble upbringing or the terrible urgency of her present situation. She has become the object of her stepfather’s sexual desires.”

Nieminen said in creating the story, which is set in the 1820s, she wanted to explore women’s issues of the time. She examines the differences between healthy and unhealthy marriages, stronger and weaker characters and how religion can be used for good or bad.

She said some of the women’s issues highlighted in “The Dance of the White Deer” still resonate today.

“I think there’s an overlap definitely with issues today and the ways that things have gotten better and the ways that things still need to get better,” Nieminen said.

RESEARCH AND REWRITES

Taking “The Dance of the White Deer,” from idea to manuscript was an undertaking that involved copious research and about two decades.

A 2013 version of the manuscript was among the top 10 contenders for the Eludia Award, an award through the nonprofit Poets & Writers that publishes a first book of fiction by a winning woman over the age of 40.

While Nieminen didn’t end up winning, she said she was “keeping good company” among the other women on the list.

When Nieminen’s son, Ethan Sloan, turned 17 in June, his birthday request was for Nieminen to self-publish “The Dance of the White Deer.”

“I guess I sort of had it in my head that if you don’t go through the traditional route and get a publisher to accept you, what you produce isn’t enough — which is not true,” Nieminen said.

Nieminen also turned 50 this year and figured, “If you don’t get off your horse and do this, you’re never going to get there.” With the help of Sloan, Nieminen published the book through the online retailer Amazon on Aug. 1. It is available in paperback and on Kindle.

“Getting it out there felt surprisingly vulnerable, because even though it’s a work of fiction, it’s something that came out of my mind and came out of my heart and soul,” Nieminen said.

Nieminen, a professional photographer, designed the cover of the book herself, using a photo she took of a deer and a photo she found on eBay of a young girl. The girl is not Maria Buell — in fact, Nieminen doesn’t know who she is, but she believes the photo was probably taken in the 1870s. Nieminen altered the girl’s clothing to make them fit the earlier time period in which her story is set.

The title pays homage to an albino deer that runs, literally and figuratively, through the novel, Nieminen said. The deer fittingly is meant to represent purity and goodness — and spends much of the story being hunted.

VISITING HISTORY

Nieminen has visited Maria’s grave in East Gustavus Cemetery, where a replica headstone chronicles the story of her demise. The original headstone was removed and placed in Gustavus Town Hall after repeated vandalism, Nieminen said.

History tells that Maria’s stepfather, Ira Gardner, was put on trial in Warren, convicted and hung in a spectacle that drew a crowd of people from all over Ohio.

Gardner was later buried in field in Williamsfield because the townspeople would not let his brother bury him in Kinsman. No one knows the exact location of his grave.

According to legend, Buell had a boyfriend who remembered her by planting an oak tree by her grave, though the tree is long gone. Nieminen’s research shows that after Buell’s death, the young man got married and moved to Indiana.

As for Nieminen, she intends to keep writing. “The Dance of the White Deer” already has a sequel in the works, because an early version of the story was so long that she was compelled to split it in half.

She hopes to write more historical fiction stories, as well as some that take place in modern times.

She encourages other writers to consider self-publishing, because it provides the option of complete control and gets the work out into the world.