Joy Callaway's "The Fifth Avenue Artists Society"

Joy Callaway’s love of storytelling is a direct result of her parents’ insistence that she read books or write stories instead of watching TV. Her interest in family history was fostered by her relatives’ habit of recounting tales of ancestors’ lives. Callaway is a full-time mom and writer. She formerly served as a marketing director for a wealth management company. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations from Marshall University and an M.M.C. in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina.

Here Callaway dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Fifth Avenue Artists Society:

I don’t often think of actors when I’m writing, but there are many times when I’ll see someone in a particular role and think, wow, if there’s ever a movie, I’ll need them in mine. So, here we go!

For the role of Ginny, I’d cast Michelle Dockery. She plays a strong, driven female lead so well and I think she would be just perfect.

I’d choose Rachel McAdams as Ginny’s older sister, Bess. She’s a milliner with a prickly personality, and McAdams is so versatile and compelling.

You can’t have a proper period drama without including Keira Knightley, and I think she’d be phenomenal as Ginny’s level headed sister, Mae.

Zac Efron is an incredibly talented actor and strangely looks like my vision of Ginny’s twin brother, Franklin. I have no doubt Zac would do the role justice.

Caitriona Balfe would play the perfect Alevia, Ginny’s youngest sister. Alevia is an elegant, soft-spoken woman with unwavering determination to become a celebrated pianist.

I’d swipe another Downton actress, Lily James, for the role of Franklin’s spirited violinist beau, Lydia.

I’ve always been a huge Tom Welling fan, so I think I’d cast him as Ginny’s first love, next door neighbor, and fellow artist. But, if I could choose any actor from any era, I’d choose Jimmy Stewart.

John Hopper is a classy, wealthy, talented Society man who has a sort of magnetism about him, and I don’t think anyone plays that type of man better than Leonardo DiCaprio.

Visit Joy Callaway's website.

--Marshal Zeringue