The Dame of Dictation

Agatha Christie, the queen of mystery, never actually wrote most of her books — at least not by hand. While many imagine her scribbling away in a dimly lit study, her most famous works, including Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None, were spoken, not written. Due to dysgraphia, a condition that made writing by hand difficult, Christie dictated her stories to a typist or into a dictation machine, bringing Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple to life through the rhythm of her voice rather than the stroke of a pen.

This little-known fact about Christie adds another layer of intrigue to her already fascinating legacy. It also serves as a powerful reminder that storytelling isn’t about how words get on the page — it’s about the imagination behind them. And if Christie’s era of wax cylinders and typewriters isn’t proof enough, consider the case of Adam Freestone, a modern author who uses voice-to-text software to craft epic fantasy novels.

Adam, a quadriplegic and a personal friend of mine, writes his books using dictation, much like Christie did, though with the benefit of cutting-edge technology. His Sentinel Flame series, including Hyroc, is created entirely through spoken words. Where Christie had a typist capturing the twists of her intricate plots, Adam uses modern speech-recognition software to shape immersive worlds, proving that innovation continues to open…