I’m a Roman archaeologist, academic and writer. I particularly like writing for children – both fiction and non-fiction. My most recent project is a middle-grade novel ‘The Prophecy Twins escape from Pompeii,’ about the adventures of two girls – twins separated by time – in contemporary London and ancient Pompeii. Archaeology helps me conjure life back to that historic city, whose tragedy these children must escape.
Writing has been my thing ever since winning the BBC Jackanory poetry competition aged 6 ½. It has sustained me since starting out at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where a posting to Rome gave me a fascination with archaeology more enduring than my short career in diplomacy, and through a succession of communications jobs until I took the plunge with a PhD.
As a huge public archaeology fan I was thrilled to work on the Time Team excavations of Broughton Roman villa (2021 and 2022), as well as previously surveying and recording foreshore archaeology with the Museum of London Archaeology Thames Discovery Project, and excavating Roman forts at Vindolanda. Currently I’m a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London, and have an academic book in preparation on the households of Roman auxiliary officers on frontiers.
Please feel free to get in touch if you’re looking for a writer with my kind of skills and expertise – or if you’re an agent who likes the sound of ‘Prophecy Twins’!
Dr. Claire Millington 