Barbara Lieberman asked Ellie Lieberman:

I saw your tweet about your new book, Solving for X. It looks fascinating! What inspired you to write a YA dystopian zombie story?

Ellie Lieberman Thank you for the question!
It all started when I was in the parking structure underneath the apartment complex I was then living in. There was this metal gate that would open up with the push of a button to lets cars in and out. It's probably very common in apartment complexes, but as I had never lived in one previously, I found it kind of cool.
The parking structure itself was rather interesting and it made me think about when I was younger. To give some insight to my younger self's mind, there was a board that was kept in front of my bedroom door to keep the basset hounds out while allowing the cat to come and go as he pleased. So, I would pretend I had a dutch door in a tiny french village, kind of like the beginning of Beauty and the Beast. My room became a cottage and each room in the house became another building or place, such as the kitchen becoming a bakery and so on. I used to pretend my bicycle and my brother's were horses and the shed we kept them in was a stable. And that the bottom rungs on the Captain's chair we used to have was a jungle gym and playground for my stuffed animals. (To be completely honest, I still pretend to be a witch when stirring spaghetti in a boiling pot!) Anyway, you probably get the picture.
So, it made me think of what I would imagine and play in the parking structure. And thus, a story was born.
Dystopian novels have been a favorite of mine. The rebellion, revolution, and discussion of politics and society spoke to me. I fell in love with Farenheit 451, Brave New World, Animal Farm, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, and so many more. I suppose a love of a genre will lend itself to writing it, eventually.
As for the zombies, I never truly understood the attraction to the undead creatures. I was trying figure out why so many feel drawn to them, what deeper meaning they may hold for us. In this way, I suppose much like a child builds understanding of the world around them through play, I was trying to build understanding for myself through writing.

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