Author dunking bread in drink (8)
I believe the answer is:
trollope
'author' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'bread in drink' is the wordplay.
'bread' becomes 'roll' (roll is a kind of bread).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'drink' becomes 'tope' (synonyms).
'roll' put inside 'tope' is 'TROLLOPE'.
'dunking' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trollope that I've seen before include "Barchester novelist" , "British novelist" , "Novelist, Anthony or Joanna" , "Author of 'The Warden'" , "Anthony -, English author (Phineas Finn)" .)