R.A. Denny's Blog, page 2

Visionaries – Finishing Touches

I’m putting the finishing touches on Visionaries, Book 5 in my Mud, Rocks, and Trees Series, and I’m wondering how other authors go about finalizing their books.  I actually finished writing this novel before I published Refugees, Book 1, back in April of 2017.  But I’m always thinking of new ways to tie everything together and jotting those ideas down on scraps of paper.  I have been keeping a running list of things I want to be sure to include in Books 5 and 6.

Now I know many people will say that they just listen to their beta readers and editors, and I definitely listen to the feedback.  But in the end it is my name that goes on the cover, and so I have to be happy with it!  I’m hoping to finish Book 5 tonight, but realistically I know that in the morning I’ll wake up with “just one more thing” I need to change to make it just a little better!  For all those other authors out there, how do you decide when it is truly done?  I’d love to hear from you!

Readers are Talking…

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Amazon Customers are saying:

“A stunning debut that begs for the next in the series to be read.”

“Wonderful book!”

“I picked this one up as a free read on Amazon and I am sure glad I did. I love fantasy and this one is wonderful.”

“This is an intriguing and exciting first installment of a fantasy book series.”

“The only problem is it ends too soon.”

‘This story was creative, imAmaginative, innovative, a cool new world you could sink yourself into!! I Dove Right In Head First!! Haha!! I Loved it!!”

“It’s much different than anything I ever read. The writing skill is great. Can’t wait to read another 5 books.”

“The book is wonderful!”

Bloggers are talking:

“Refugees is one of the fantasy books that will keep you immersed in the story. You will want to grab book 2 and start reading when you are done, this book is that good. This is a book that I would recommend to everyone!!”

Read with Me.  Read the entire review here.

“There is something about this book that feels so utterly foreign that it sucked me in.”

She’s Going Book Crazy.  Read the entire review here.

“The tone of the book is of a troubling time, but as always the important thing in times of troubles and struggles is HOPE. And there is HOPE.”

Book*Reviews*etc.  Read the entire review here.

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Amazon Customers are saying:

“WOW! What an exciting book! I was on the edge of my chair.”

“This series invites you to step outside the rational realm in which we live, and into the realm of fantasy where improbable people groups and fantastical creatures live. These are the beings of which legends are made!”

“Wonderful characters, fast paced, good writing. Loads of twists and turns. This is one of my new favorite authors…I give it five stars, I loved it.”

“This book has danger, adventure, killer monkeys, sadistic god worshippers, killer watchers, honor, betrayal, destiny, and secrets revealed.”

“The story line keeps me coming back to read the next book…and the next book. I am excited to see what is next.”

“You wouldn’t be let down with this series. Well written. Grab this series.”

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Amazon Customers are saying:

“Five Big Whopping Star! I feel like I’m on the journey of a lifetime!!”

“If you enjoy your fantasy stories with adventure and twists; you must read this series. ”

“Fantastic fantasy book! It’s only book three and I can hardly wait to read the rest of the story.”

“Characters are endearing, admirable, and honorable as well as unscrupulous, cunning and ruthless. ”

“Book three and very compelling! Denny is a wonderful author. Her descriptions are superb as is her characterization.”

“Good storytelling. I give it five stars.”

“Give this one a try and you might just get pulled in too.”

“This story has page turning adventure, danger, loyality, assassins, war and a quest to fulfill. The heroes are young, but have so much courage.”

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Amazon Customers are saying:

“Book 4 is truly wonderful!! The battle has finally arrived and Ms. Denny has written it to perfection.”

“There wasn’t a dull moment in this book. The characters have come a long way and grown a lot in 4 books and have made me love them all.”

“This book is a really great read that draws you in…This story is action-packed, with danger, adventure, betrayal, assassins, war, heroes, villains and secrets revealed. ”

Thank you to all my reviewers!  I recognize that it takes a lot of time and effort to read and review a book.  I really appreciate every review that I get!!!  The best thank you a reader who enjoys a book can give to an author is to leave a review.  Thanks!!!

 

Warriors is Here!

I have exciting news!  Warriors, Book 4 of the Mud, Rocks, and Trees Series is now available!  I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks!  If you enjoy Warriors,  please tell all your friends!  Most people choose what they read based on recommendations from people they know.  I know I’m much more likely to read a book if somebody I know tells me how good it is!  So please, spread the word!

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Character Sketches

How do you picture your favorite characters from the Mud, Rocks, and Trees Series?  I finished sketching Amanki, Brina, and Moshoi in pencil.  Do they look the way you expected?  I’d love to hear from you or to see your own drawings!  Who should I sketch next?  I’m thinking…[image error] maybe Bladar?

My first author interview

I had a lot of fun answering Cathleen Townsend’s probing questions in my first author interview.  My favorite question was this:  “We can’t use everything we find while reading up on our worlds, although I enjoy diving into a research hole. What’s been the most memorable piece of research that you’ve turned up?”  I felt like she had thrown me a perfect pitch.  I love to research almost as much as I love writing!

When readers figure out which historical event, geographical location, or scientific anomaly one of my scenes is based upon, it is so satisfying.   I work hard to slide all those small nuggets of fact into my fantasy, hoping a reader will find them!  If you think you spotted one, I’d love to hear from you either in the comments below or feel free to email me radennyauthor at (but use the @) gmail.com.

You can read the full interview here:  https://cathleentownsend.com/2017/08/...

 

 

Fantasy Art – Mud, Rocks, and Trees

This site is dedicated to creativity of all kinds, not just writing.  I love to paint as well as write.  So, I’m planning on creating a series of paintings to illustrate my Mud, Rocks and Trees Series.

Let me know here which scenes from my books you think that I ought to portray! Thanks in advance for your ideas!

I’m hoping my artwork will add to my readers’ experience rather than taking away from it.  But I do have to admit that it always drives me crazy when I read a book, picture the characters in my mind, and then a movie or new cover comes out that shows them entirely differently.  Kate Blanchett did a fine job of playing Galadriel, but somehow the movie portrayal was just not quite how I pictured her.  Then after watching the movie, I tried and tried but I could never remember how she had appeared in my imagination when I read the book. My picture was gone.  Has this ever happened to you?

 

Introducing the epic fantasy series: Mud, Rock and Trees

I am excited to announce the release of the first three novels in my six part fantasy series:

REFUGEES

SEEKERS

CAPTIVES

The final three are completed and will be released soon.  Watch this site for updates!

WARRIORS

DREAMERS

DELIVERERS

Lego Themed Bible Camp

Lego is such a creative way for children to learn the stories of the Bible.  This summer, I volunteered to run a track at a church camp with the theme:  Master Builders.  Check out the display that children ages 5-8 built.   It shows the “Garden of Eden” in the background, then left to right, “Jesus is Risen,” “Jesus on the Cross,” and “Jesus Carrying the Cross.”

The photo below shows my friend who volunteered to assist.  This is the Garden of Eden when it was still in the classroom.  It is modular, so we were able to easily take it apart and reassemble it in the church lobby upstairs, base by base.

 

Below are close ups of the Via Dolorosa or “Jesus Carrying the Cross.”  Notice the historically accurate Roman Soldiers with their Lorica Segmentata (armor), helmet and plume, scutum (shields), pilum and gladiuses.   These were purchased from Brickwarriors

Next are some close ups of “Jesus on the Cross.”  These contain more pieces by Brickwarriors including the Rogue Hood and Plague Doctor Coat.  The Brickwarriors pike was perfect for the spear that pierced Jesus’ side.  See how it is pointed towards Jesus in the moc.

Next, here are some close ups of “Jesus is Risen.”  Notice the beautiful angel from Brickwarriors!

The angel was made with  Glow in the Dark “bird wings,” a “flamberge” (flaming sword), a “bladed helm,” and believe it or not, “demon armor,”  all from Brickwarriors.  The bird wings clip into the demon armor in the back.

Here are some pictures of Adam, Eve and the serpent.  The serpent is made with Brickwarriors lizardman armor, dragonman head, and dragon tail that remind me of a serpent.  In the middle of the garden in the background you may be able to spot some grapes growing from the tree of life.  Eve is reaching for the apple.

Notice the goats in the picture above.  I gave the kids each a Ziploc sandwich bag which contained the pieces to make these.  I got the idea from Brother Steven’s lego goats.  I ordered the pieces from Bricklinks and Brickwarriors and the kids easily put them together.  Brother Steven shows exactly how to do it piece by piece.

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Here’s another shot of Adam with some goats and a sheep.  The sheep design is my own.  Hope you like it!

Below is one of my favorite shots as it shows the creativity that went into these kids making these trees.  This willow tree drooped delicately toward the water.

You are probably wondering how a group of 5-8 years olds were able to create such an amazing display!  The Garden of Eden took 20 children only 2 days in which they only had 1 hour each day.  I had one adult assistant and about 1 teenager for every 4 or 5 kids to help.

The church asked for donations of legos, I asked for donations from my facebook friends and we purchased a number of specialty items (like the Brickwarriors pieces, the binoculars for the goat’s heads and the many lego leaf pieces.)  Then I made up Ziploc bags with the pieces each child would need to make a tree.

I got the design for the trees from Mark of Falworth trees.  Mark of Falworth and Brother Steven are brothers who create amazing mocs out of lego that they post on line.  I put about 12 leaf pieces, 12 headlights, 12 clips, 5 lances, 5 brown or grey slopes, 5 brown or green bullets and 2 small green bases (4×4 and 6×6)in each bag.  I also added some brown and gray arches in each bag to add stability.  The lances are the hardest to come by so I ordered them off of bricklinks.

Then I showed the kids a completed tree, and demonstrated for them each step along the way.  If you look at the pictures you will see how many unique tree designs they created, all using the same legos from a bag.  My biggest concern was that the kids would become frustrated and upset if their flimsy trees fell apart.  The teenage helpers were great with this, but in the end a lot of trees did fall apart while building, but every one of the young children just cheerfully recreated their trees!

At the end of the hour, my assistants and I very carefully carried all the trees to shelves where we placed them for safe keeping until the next day.  The next day, I gave out 32×32 green bases and put out paper bowls with various lego items that looked like they could be used to make plants.  On each base I strategically placed 2 or 3 small (6×6) plates on the large green bases.  These were to hold the spot for the trees that would be placed there later.  I told the kids that they could build anywhere on the large bases, but not to build on the 6×6 plates I had already placed there.  The river was premade as well and they were told not to place plants in the river.

Then they went at it and covered the ground with green plants and flowers.  We also made the goats and sheep that day.  Then, after the kids had gone, my helper and I placed all the trees from the previous day into the scene on the spots that had been reserved with the 6×6 green bases.  The next morning the kids came in and saw what they had made!  It was so fun and exciting!

For the other scenes I put together packets of the minifigs and Brickwarriors pieces they would need and then printed out several pictures of other similar scenes on the internet, to give them an idea of what could be done.  Then the kids came up with their own creations.  I was truly amazed at the final product these young children were able to make.

Of course, during the camp we also used the legos to tell the story of creation, of Adam and Eve, of the crucifixion and of the resurrection.  I think everyone was blessed (I know I was).

When I went to tell the story of Adam and Eve, which I’ve heard a thousand times, I noticed something I had never noticed before.  When we were placing the trees, I had to decide where to place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life.  I assumed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the center, but fortunately I went back and looked at he text.  Actually it wasn’t!  God said the tree of live was in the center.  Eve mischaracterized what He had said and she is the one who said that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the center.  What do you make of that?

Anyway, I also learned that kids can do a lot more than we give them credit for, if we only give them the chance.  How many people would not think that kids that young could make such a fabulous display?  But, they did!

Have you used legos to teach children the stories of the Bible?  Please share your stories, here.

 

10 Novels with Biblical Allusions

1.  Hamlet by William Shakespeare, 1602

Regardless of Shakespeare’s religious beliefs or his intent when including biblical allusions in his work (which have been endlessly debated), the fact remains that his plays contain over 1200 biblical references. One example from Hamlet is when Claudius refers to his own murderous actions by saying: “O my offence is rank; it smells to heaven; it hath the primal eldest curse upon’t – a brother’s murder!” This is a reference to the story in Genesis 4 in which Cain kills his brother Abel.   Uncle Claudius is also called “the serpent who now wears the crown,” a reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. When the gravedigger unearths the skull, and throws it to the ground, Hamlet remarks that the skull has been treated as if it was Cain’s jawbone, the first murderer.   In scene 5 when Hamlet accepts that God will ultimately decide his fate, he states, “Not a whit, we defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” Compare this to Matthew 10:29 in which Jesus says that not one sparrow will fall outside of God’s care.  Ultimately, the playwright deftly raises questions rather than giving answers regarding themes such as forgiveness, mercy and grace.

2. Oliver Twist or The Parish Boys Progress by Charles Dickens, 1839 –

The second title of this book associates it with a famous Christian allegory, A Pilgrim’s Progress.  The theme is a struggle between the forces of good and evil in which God’s providence is shown to be all powerful in the end. Phrases are borrowed from the Bible and several parables are used ironically.  For instance, Oliver is described as a “millstone around the parochial throat,” a phrase taken from the biblical “millstone around his neck” in Matthew 18:6. In the Bible, this verse follows a verse where Jesus says that whoever welcomes a child welcomes Him, which is the opposite of the way the Beadle treats Oliver.   The Beadle who treats Oliver horribly wears a button of the Good Samaritan.   The book parallels the Parable of the Good Samaritan, with Oliver like the innocent man who is beaten and left in a ditch to die, Fagan and Nancy like those who pass by without helping, Sikes like the robber, and Mr. Brownlow like the Samaritan who saves the victim’s life.   Many references to prayer and the Bible can be found throughout the novel. Though Oliver is often hungry, alone and in a prison of poverty, most people in the novel fail to come to his aid. Dickens explained his own motivation behind all of his writings as wanting to “express the veneration for the life and lessons of our Savior…” He also wrote a book specifically for his own children that was a retelling of the Gospel.

3.  Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1866 –

This book is sometimes considered to parallel the gospel of John. There are many biblical references including Sonya reading to Raskolnikov the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Ultimately Raskolnikov finds forgiveness and is reborn spiritually, even though he is a murderer. Redemption occurs when the judge himself pays the price for the sinner.

4.  Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1939

Parts of this story reflect the exodus of the Hebrew people in the Bible, with California as the promised land.  There are twelve members of the family, like the twelve tribes of Israel. Another Biblical allusion can be seen when Noah Joad watches the others climb into the truck two by two like in Noah’s Ark. Jim Casey (whose initials are JC) is often seen as a Christ figure.  Steinbeck’s mother read Bible stories to him beginning when he was age 3.  Although as a man, he was not considered religious, he used Biblical imagery in many of his books such as East of Eden.

 

 

5.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 1950

In this book, the white witch entices Edmund with the idea of someday making him a prince. After Edmund succumbs and eats the turkish delight, he must die because of the deep magic. But, still deeper magic allows Aslan the Lion to choose to die in his place. After Aslan is slain, an earthquake splits the rock on which he died.  When two girls (Lucy and Susan) come to mourn for him, they find that he has been resurrected. Aslan breathes new life into all of his followers, death has been conquered and a new world is created.   Likewise, in the Bible, Adam disobeyed and ate the fruit, so humans must die. Jesus chooses to die in our place and is crucified. Thereafter, an earthquake splits rocks. Christ is resurrected and the Holy Spirit comes upon his followers.  C.S. Lewis explained in a letter to 5th graders that when he wrote the book what he was doing was describing what he thought would happen if there was a land like Narnia and the son of God became a lion there.

6.  Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 1954 –

This book about boys stranded on an island was based in part on a novel by Ballantyne called The Coral Island.  However one of the major differences is that in Lord of the Flies, the evil comes from within the boys rather than from outside them. Even the title of this book is translated as “Beelzebub” in Hebrew, which is a name for the devil. Simon is a Christ figure who is pure and compassionate towards the other boys. Like Jesus, he spends time alone in the wilderness, and eventually is tempted by the beast. Then when he tells the other boys the truth, he is taunted and ultimately murdered. Though innocent of wrongdoing, he is brutally killed. According to Golding’s daughter, the editor of the original manuscript changed the book so that Simon became less of a religious figure than originally intended. The original title of the book was “Strangers from Within.”


7.  Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955 –

Tolkien did not like allegories, so he avoided creating one.   Instead, Lord of the Rings reflects his Christian world view. He once explained that it was “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.” The creation of the world of middle earth and the one God, Eru, are described in his book Silmarillion, but in the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien avoids making specific mention of them.  Yet, providence is at work throughout the trilogy.  Gandalf tells Frodo that he is meant to have the Ring and not by the one who made the ring.  It is a fairy tale of good versus evil, in which the evil is seen as a perversion of the good and the fight involves pride versus humility. Although Tolkien has created a new world, the truth is the same as if it were in our own.

8.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling, 2007 –

The series is about resurrection and life after death. In the last book of the series, Harry visits his parents’ gravestones which bear two quotes, one from I Corinthians 26 and the other from Matthew 6:19, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. In an interview, Rowling said that these two quotes sum up the whole series. Harry finally conquers death and resurrects the dead spirits of loved ones.

 

 

 
9.  Divergent by Veronica Roth, 2011 –

Many people have seen in the factions (erudite, amity, dauntless, abegnation and candor) virtues that are espoused in scripture (knowledge, peacefulness, bravery, selflessness and honesty), but these might be virtues from any values system.  However, in Tris’ world it is the erudite who tried to grab power just like the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Eve ate in the Garden of Eden in her attempt to be like God.   In an interview, Veronica Roth gave a beautiful summary of the book’s message in which she explains that the factions in divergent are moralistic, urging people to act a certain way in order to justify themselves in the world.  She explains that the power of her faith lies in the love and acceptance of God in spite of all of our failed attempts to be perfect on our own. Other biblical images appear in the book, such as the abegnation ritual of washing other people’s feet just as Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

10.  Road to Tzoladia by R.A. Denny, 2015 –

When I first accepted the challenge to write a book, my only goal was to create a fantasy novel full of adventure and imagination. However, as I wrote, I began to notice how much of my world view was making its way into the story. Daily, as I struggled with questions about life, those questions would pop up in the lives of my characters. Perhaps the reason so many books contain biblical allusions is because the books of the Bible deal with the struggles man has faced since the beginning of time. In Road to Tzoladia, Moshoi faces one of the temptations of Christ when he forgets about the advice of Rhabdom (“Man does not live by bread alone…) and almost breaks the precious jug. In another scene, Elder Lepton advises Brina: “If you do what is right, you will be accepted by the Great Creator. But if you do not do what is right, evil inclination is crouching at your door like a lion on the prowl…”  These verses reflect the  warning to Cain in Genesis 4:7. Their importance becomes more evident in the second book of the Mud, Rocks and Trees Trilogy. A turning point for Amanki occurs when Amanki is angry with Adon for the death of his mother and he dives into the Lanaduk River where he wrestles with Adon. This is similar to Jacob wrestling with the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 32.  Themes in the book include good against evil, humility versus hubris, and despair versus hope.  One of my sons asked me how all these biblical references could occur in a made up world and after thinking about it, my response was that if the world of Tzoladia did exist, truth would still be the same there. When researching for this blog post, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that apparently Tolkien felt the same way about his Middle Earth!

Which are your favorite books with biblical allusions? 

10 Earthquakes Predicted by Animals

 

373 BC , Helice, Greece – People were amazed but didn’t know what to think when rats, snakes, weasels, beetles, centipedes and every other creature of that kind poured out of the city onto the road toward the hills of Corinth for five days.  Then, while the residents were sleeping during the night, an earthquake shook the city.  As the people tried to escape the ruins, a tsunami swept in, utterly destroying the city and ten Spartan ships that had anchored there.    Helike had been a center for the worship of Poseidon, Greek god of earthquakes and the sea.  At the time of Helike’s destruction, Plato was teaching in Athens and Aristotle was only 12.  The description was recorded by Aelian,  in De Natura animalium, book 11.   Helike Earthquake  The buried ruins were found in 2001.  Helike found.
Tokyo (Edo) Japan, 1855 and 1923 – In a Japanese myth, Namazu is a giant catfish that lives buried in mud and swishes his tail to cause earthquakes.  Catfish were also believed to be able to warn of danger or swallow water dragons.  Perhaps the strange behavior of real catfish before earthquakes led to these beliefs.  Catfish became unusually active just before the Edo Earthquake of  1855.  Days before the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake, catfish rose to the surface where they were easy to catch.  As recently as 1993 scientists in Japan were watching catfish in aquariums to try and predict earthquakes.  In 2005, Japanese Professor Yada published an article based on research done by sending kits to school children to monitor catfish.  He claims that high levels of catfish activity correspond with high levels of seismic activity 70% of the time.
1975 Haicheng, China, 7.3 on Richter scale – City of over a million people was evacuated because of the widespread reports of unusual behavior of animals.  Over a month before the quake, people saw snakes freeze to death because they came up out of their burrows into the snow.  For the hibernating snakes to emerge in the winter was suicide.   Cows and horses became restless and agitated.  Groups of rats appeared.  Chickens refused to enter their coops and geese took flight.  It is thought that some of this activity may have been due to foreshocks.
1976 Tangshan, China, 8.3 on Richter scale – Several days before the city was flattened, rats were seen running in panicked packs in broad daylight. Chickens refused to eat and more than a hundred skunks migrated.
2004 Thailand, Sri Lanka, Tsunami –  Elephants fled to higher ground, flamingos left low-lying breeding grounds and frantic bats flew away before the Tsunami struck.
2008 Mianzhu, China, 8.0 on Richter scale – Three days before the earthquake, thousands of toads appeared on the streets.  Zebras banged their heads on the door of the zoo.  Elephants swung their trunks, lions and tigers walked about when normally sleeping and peacocks began screeching.  Toads and zebras.
2009 L’Aguilla, Italy,  6.3 on Richter scale – A colony of toads was recorded by scientists as abandoning their pond days before earthquake.  In 3 days the population went from 96 toads to almost zero.  This was not just anecdotal, since the colony was being studied by a scientist.   NASA became interested and showed that rocks in ponds before earthquakes release charged particles that react with the air to become ions.  This increases the level of serotonin in the blood of animals.   Aquatic, semi-aquatic and burrowing animals may be able to sense the coming of an earthquake.  Toads in Italy
In Nanjing, China, farmers have been asked to observe their animals including chicken, fish, boars and toads for unusual behavior that might predict an earthquake.  Nanjing   At other places in China, monitoring stations have been set up to observe donkeys, peacocks, snakes, turtles, frogs, deer and more than 50 horses for abnormal behavior.
2011 Peru, 7.0 on Richter scale – Science has confirmed that in the days and weeks before an earthquake some animals do behave differently.  When rocks below the surface are stressed, they release positive ions.  It is theorized that the animals are not trying to escape danger, but want to get away from the positive ions that are released before earthquakes.  Using motion sensitive cameras in the Yanachaga National Park in Peru, scientists found even as long as 3 weeks before a magnitude 7 earthquake, animals began behaving differently.  The closer it came to the time of the earthquake the fewer animals were sighted, until, beginning a week before the earthquake, no animals were sighted at all!   The rodents were the first to disappear.  This actually fits with ancient stories of rats disappearing from cities before an earthquake.  Other animals that were extremely sensitive were ground birds and armadillos.  Peru Study
Sea of Ortaz, earthquake – In Tzoladia, horses became agitated, tossing their heads, stamping their hooves and ramming chests against stall doors.  Catfish floated on the surface of the Lanaduk River during daylight, so they could be easily speared.  In the underground city of Trenggol, everyone hibernating awakened. Yakamas, cows, goats, sheep, pigs and dogs called out and then suddenly became quiet.   Just outside the caves, an unusual number of lizards scurried across the ground.   On the mudflats of Waduk, hundreds of worms squirmed around on the surface while hordes of frogs hopped away to the hills and snakes seemed to be everywhere.  Outside Mazorka, flocks of birds rose to the sky, wolves howled  and yakamas bleated.  Wild animals fled from the ravine.  In the Vargarian Woods flocks of birds flew away.  Finally, in Waduk it seemed as if all the birds from all the islands headed for the skies at once.  Road to Tzoladia

 

 

How many of those clues of animal behavior did you spot?