The French novelist has been in New Zealand for the past five months on a literary exchange programme and is visiting Dunedin to see the sights and deliver a lecture.
While his previous 13 books and five novels have had historical themes, his latest project will be a contemporary, astronomical one.
"I have no scientific knowledge but I'm curious about the night sky," Mr Bleys said.
In his research, he had discovered that two meteorites had "played a part" in New Zealand's history.
The first landed above Cape Reinga about 40,000 years ago.
In its wake, a tidal wave devastated kauri forests which subsequently became swamps, he said.
Another struck near Snares Island, south of Stewart Island, in the 18th century causing a 220m wave to hit New Zealand's shoreline.
Maori living on the coast at the time moved inland due to fear of more giant waves.
His novel is based around a meteorite hitting the Adam Art Gallery in Wellington as it hosts an exhibition of Piranese etchings.
A French Piranese specialist is brought in to assess damage to the works and advise on their restoration.
He then meets a New Zealand astronomer and meteorite specialist, based in Tekapo.
Mr Bleys was glad Tekapo was the setting for his book as he believed "there is something special about it".
During his visit, Mr Bleys has been based in Wellington while lecturing and travelling throughout the country.
New Zealand had a "strange familiarity" for him as people looked European and many shops were the same.
However, "slight differences which seem more and more important" cropped up, especially in nature, he said.
Highlights of his trip included visiting the Franz Josef glacier and the Coromandel Peninsula.
Despite his time in Dunedin being marred by poor weather, he "very much enjoyed" the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
He hoped to return to New Zealand in about two years to transform his novel into a film.
Mr Bleys will speak about his experiences in New Zealand and his novel at 5pm tonight at the University of Otago's Burns 3 lecture theatre.
