Writer retired by a lake in a Himalayan country (5)
I believe the answer is:
nepal
'a himalayan country' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'writer retired by a lake' is the wordplay.
'writer' becomes 'pen' (something which writes).
'retired' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'lake' becomes 'L' (geographical abbreviation).
'pen' written backwards gives 'nep'.
'nep'+'a'+'l'='NEPAL'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for nepal that I've seen before include "mountainous area" , "Mountainous country" , "Asian country -- plane (anag)" , "Kathmandu's country" , "mountain state" .)