Clever story book by journalist (8)
I believe the answer is:
talented
'clever' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'story book by journalist' is the wordplay.
'story' becomes 'tale' (synonyms).
'book' becomes 'nt' (New Testament).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'tale'+'nt'+'ed'='TALENTED'
(Other definitions for talented that I've seen before include "Skilled" , "Able" , "Skilful" , "Having a natural aptitude or skill" , "Well-endowed with gifts" .)