Phil Farrand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1958-11-05)November 5, 1958 (age 66) Broken Arrow, Oklahoma |
| Occupation | Novelist,Non-fiction writer |
| Genre | Science fiction,Children's literature, Non-fiction |
| Spouse | Lynette Farrand |
| Children | Elizabeth Farrand |
| Website | |
| philfarrand | |
Phil Farrand (born November 5, 1958) is an Americancomputer programmer and consultant,webmaster andauthor. He is known for hisNitpicker's Guides, in which he nitpicks plot holes and continuity errors in the variousStar Trektelevision programs andmovies, and for the creation of Nitcentral, awebsite devoted to the same activity.[1] Subsequent to hisNitpicker's Guides, he has ventured into fiction as a novelist.
Farrand was born inBroken Arrow, Oklahoma, and grew up in thePhilippines, where his parents were missionaries forAssemblies of God. He first became interested in the originalStar Trek as a child.[2] After returning to theUnited States, Farrand earnedbachelor's degrees inpiano performance andmusic composition.[3]
Farrand worked as a music editor, but became frustrated with working with music printed on paper, and worked for two years on a notation package for theApple II, which later became Polywriter. Later, working with Coda Music Technology, Farrand created an award-winning,[4] high-enddesktop publishing software package for music notation calledFinale. Now owned by MakeMusic, Finale won Best Book/Video/Software at the 2015 Music & Sound Awards[5] and has been used to score films such asMillion Dollar Baby,The Aviator,Spider-Man 2,Sideways,Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,The Passion of the Christ,Ratatouille, andMichael Clayton.[6]
Farrand first became aStar Trek nitpicker when watching a scene in the 1990Star Trek: The Next Generation episodeThe Offspring. In the scene, the characterWesley Crusher speaks to his mother,Dr. Beverly Crusher using hiscommunicator badge. After responding to Dr. Crusher's reminder to get a haircut, Wesley utters a sarcastic remark, but without tapping his comm badge to terminate the connection, leading Farrand to wonder if Dr. Crusher heard the remark. This sparked a spirited discussion between Farrand and his Trekker friend as to how the communicators worked, and the inconsistencies in their depicted usage in the series.[2]
In 1990, Farrand decided to try writing fiction, but could not find anyone to read his work. Because the onlyagent willing to represent him dealt only with nonfiction works, Farrand decided to attempt writing nonfiction in order to develop a reputation on which a career writing fiction could be based. A book producer liked Farrand's idea for aNext Generation nitpicker's guide, and so Farrand spent two years conducting careful analysis of the first six seasons of that series, spending eight to nine hours a day for months watching each episode multiple times, composing a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the plot holes, continuity errors and other trivia in the series. In 1993Dell Publishing published the first guide,The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers. By 1994 nearly 800,000 copies had been sold, and four printings published.[2] From 1994 to 1997, similar guides followed annually, includingGuides forStar Trek: The Original Series,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine andThe X-Files, along with a secondNext Generation volume. Watching the episodes and movies of each series in order to compile each Guide took about seven months, leaving Farrand five months out of the year to learn how to write fiction.[7] Although exhaustive in their attention to detail, the Guides were not intended as critiques of the series' episodes or movies, but lighthearted musings that Farrand explained with the philosophy, "All nitpickers shall perform their duties with lightheartedness and good cheer," explaining that nitpicking should be about having fun with one's favorite television shows, not pointing fingers and assigning blame.
Farrand solicited submissions from readers, who then became members of the "Nitpicker's Guild."[8] He began sending out newsletters in 1994 in order to keep in touch with the Guild,[9] beginning with the April 1994 edition. The Guild numbered 7,450 members from 32 countries as of May 28, 1999. Farrand decided to create an online version of the newsletter called Nitpicker Central, or Nitcentral; this took the form of anHTML feature called "This Week at Nitcentral", and debuted in November 1997. The hardcopy version of the newsletter also continued, with a total of 17 issues published intermittently, ceasing with issue dated October 1998, which coincided with the creation of Nitcentral's message boards, using free Discus software.[10] Farrand was Nitcentral's first and solemoderator at first, with the site covering only four topics, thelive actionStar Trektelevision programs that had been produced up to then:Star Trek: The Original Series,Star Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, andStar Trek: Voyager. By June 2009, the topics listed on the main Topics page numbered 89.[11]
Farrand planned to release aNitpicker's Guide forStar Wars in April 1999, one month beforeStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but publishers became wary of publishing media tie-in products as a resultcopyright infringement lawsuits brought against similar products. Although the lawsuits did not name Farrand'sGuides as an example — and in fact, even cited theGuides used as an example of what was legal — Del Rey ceased publishing Farrand'sGuides, leaving Nitcentral as the sole ongoing outlet for the Guild. As the site expanded, Farrand assigned dozens of moderators to oversee the site's various topics. Although Farrand has since stepped down as a moderator of day-to-day activities, he remains the ultimate authority on the site and will step in occasionally to resolve matters of severe conflict among visitors and moderators, who refer to him as "The Chief".[citation needed]
Following the cancellation of theGuides, Farrand returned to the computer consulting industry, hoping to begin writing his first novel in his free time. Those plans changed when his wife Lynette, who had served as music minister at their church for 16 years, decided to take a two-year break from her position. Farrand, a devoutChristian who mentionsJesus Christ in the acknowledgments of all his books, agreed to serve as interim music minister; combined with his consultation job, this consumed all of his time, and he worked seven days a week. He eventually stepped down as music minister on September 28, 2003.[citation needed]
Farrand's initial attempts to publish through a small publisher in August 2003 were not fruitful, and he ultimately decided to self-publish through on-demand publisherXlibris.[12] His novelThe Son, the Wind and the Reign was published in 2004. It depicts a world in whichJesus Christ and his followers have returned toEarth to rule with an iron rod for a thousand years. Twenty years into the new rule, a resistance fighter named Avery Foster decides to confront the new rulers, including Judge Thomas Stone, whose brutal interpretations of the new law have oppressed anyone daring to rebel. Farrand wrote the novel in part to explore the question of how one can distinguish between thedivine andextraterrestrials, and added a topic to Nitcentral for discussion of the novel.[7]
In 2007, Farrand publishedGrumpy Old Prophets: A Christmas Fable for Adults. He also began a new Internet provider venture called Zarks, providing high-speed Internet access to the rural areas in and aroundGreene County, Missouri.[13]
Farrand lives with his wife Lynette inSpringfield, Missouri.[2]
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