Writer penning a miserable article somewhere in California (8)
I believe the answer is:
pasadena
'somewhere in california' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'writer penning a miserable article' is the wordplay.
'writer' becomes 'pen' (something which writes).
'penning' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'miserable' becomes 'sad' (similar in meaning).
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'a'+'sad'='asad'
'pen' going around 'asad' is 'pasaden'.
'pasaden'+'a'='PASADENA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pasadena that I've seen before include "Californian city" , "City in Los Angeles County" , "LA neighbour" , "place in California" , "US city" .)