Reckless to trick an author (9)
I believe the answer is:
foolhardy
'reckless' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'trick an author' is the wordplay.
'trick' becomes 'fool'.
'an author' becomes 'hardy' (Thomas Hardy).
'fool'+'hardy'='FOOLHARDY'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for foolhardy that I've seen before include "Dry loofah for quality of rashness" , "Reckless" , "Rash - incautious" , "Hot-headed" , "daredevil" .)