Tasmanian-based author Peter Kay has earned a book publishing deal thanks to his writing talents, following encouragement to try a 'magical realist' writing style.

Peter's PhD supervisor Associate Professor Wally Woods helped him try a more adventurous style and now the CQUniversity doctoral student has a book publishing deal with Interactive Publications.

Author and doctoral student Peter Kay

The novel Blood, largely about the bombing of Darwin, has won IP Picks Best Fiction Award for 2012. Publisher Dr David Reiter says the novel will be published in hard copy and on-line towards the end of this year.

According to the IP newsletter, Blood is an exceptional work of fiction which is playfully eccentric in places and heart-achingly sad in others, with a dark, comedic vein lying just below the surface.

"Also encompassing themes of depression, advertising ethics and gay rights, Peter Kay's novella Blood is a far-reaching and multi-layered piece that must be read to be believed. His clean, sharp prose and poignant voice transport the reader through different times, places and points of view as smoothly and effortlessly as a time machine," the IP newsletter states.

Born in Canberra, Peter has lived for the last 30 years in southern Tasmania. He has written fiction, features, news journalism and literary criticism for The Canberra Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review, The Weekend Australian, Playboy and Tracks.  Peter has a B.A. in Professional Writing from the University of Canberra and an M. Litt. in Creative Writing from CQUniversity.