Daniel M. Lavery
Daniel M. Lavery (born November 28, 1986) is an American writer and editor. He was born Mallory Ortberg and later adopted the name Lavery. He co-founded The Toast, a feminist online magazine, with Nicole Cliffe, and has written several books and hosted podcasts.
His notable works include Texts from Jane Eyre (2014), The Merry Spinster (2018), Something That May Shock and Discredit You (2020), and Women's Hotel (2024). He wrote Slate’s Dear Prudence advice column from 2016 to 2021 and hosted the podcast Big Mood, Little Mood on Slate from 2022 to 2023. He started the paid newsletter Shatner Chatner in 2017, which was renamed The Chatner in 2021 after a Substack deal.
Lavery grew up in northern Illinois and San Francisco. He is the son of evangelical pastor John Ortberg and Nancy Ortberg. He attended Azusa Pacific University and appeared on Jeopardy! as a student. Influences include Shirley Jackson and The Pilgrim’s Progress. He wrote for Gawker and The Hairpin, where he met Cliffe and launched The Toast in 2013; the site ran until 2016. He was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media in 2015.
His first book, Texts from Jane Eyre, became a New York Times bestseller and imagined literary characters texting each other. He published Rick and Morty Presents: Krombopulos Michael (a one-shot) in 2018. The Merry Spinster, a collection of fairy-tale retellings, received widespread attention, and Something That May Shock and Discredit You is a memoir published in 2020. Women's Hotel, a novel, was released in 2024.
Lavery identifies as queer and has spoken publicly about his gender transition. In 2018 he discussed coming out as transgender, and he and his partner Grace Lavery became engaged in 2018 and married on December 22, 2019. In 2020 they formed a throuple with Lily Woodruff, and they are raising a son.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:01 (CET).