Save Robert B. Marks' family from libel

That cover photo is me in the hospital holding my baby girl, Isabel, on the first day of her life. It was taken on August 11th of this year, and it was the best day of my life thus far. She's an amazing, happy baby girl who was already able to raise her head on day one. I want to provide the best future I can for her...but right now, my ability to do that is in jeopardy.

Just days before her birth, I was libelled in a potentially life-destroying way by the company that bought The Escapist, a publication I wrote a column for between 2015-2017. Because of this, and the refusal of the new owners to publish a retraction or come to the table in good faith, I have had to bring this into a court of law.

Because I don't have a lot of money, I am representing myself. I'm holding my own for the moment (among other things, I spent much of the last year doing research and document preparation for a law firm), but the expenses are mounting - I've already paid over $1,000 out of pocket. And, it gets worse.

I have a condition named Crohn's Disease, which flared around the time this started, and was diagnosed in the middle of October. The treatment for this, Prednisone, was highly debilitating, and I had to drop almost all of my professional commitments. I come off the drug on Friday, December 21st, but my professional writing practice is in a shambles and needs to be rebuilt. And, with the defamation still unretracted, I don't know how possible that will be.

For the sake of my little baby girl, I need to ask for help, not just to pay for my legal expenses, but to help keep a roof over my family's head while I rebuild. If I can raise $8,500, I can hire a lawyer to take over the case and bring it to a conclusion that will save my family.

Everything I do in this is for my little girl. Anybody who helps me will have my unending gratitude.