The highest distinction is service to others.
I actually wrote my first zombie book way before I got the job on 'Saturday Night Live.
Before I'm a zombie nerd, before I'm a science-fiction nerd, I am a history nerd.
Any survival guide will tell you, don't buy a pair of combat boots before any disaster. They'll tear your feet up. Or water. Don't bring water with you because it'll tire you out and you'll lose too much fluid. Bring a water pump.
To know is always better, no matter what the answer might be.
I wrote 'The Zombie Survival Guide' because I wanted to read it, and nobody else was writing it. All I've been doing with everything I've written is answering questions that I had.