Death -> Alive
Death
Beath (bathe)
beatS
Seats
sLats
slIts
sliDs
slidE
sliCe
Alice (A parallel graph rewriting computer)
aliVe
Whew…sketchy…but A-O-K!
Um…Hmmm…
How about Air -> Sea? Holy crap this one’s easy…3 steps…ok, try Loser -> Quits? Iunno if it works…I’m just surmising.
beath?
slids?
C’mon, now.
Also, proper names ought to be excluded. Hell, you can throw any scramble of letters together and it’s probably someone’s name.
IMHO,
TN*hippie
Ok, because people asked…
Blue
glue
glut
gout
pout
post
past
pant
pane
pine
Pink
With NO questionable words!!
(Pumps fists in air moronmountain style)
I’ll get to work on some others now…
Loser -> Quits
loser
loses
hoses
hosts
costs
coots
clots
slots
slits
suits
quits
How about jelly -> bread?
Jelly > Bread
jelly
jolly
dolly
doily
daily
drily
drill
trill
trial
triad
tread
bread
Soup to Nuts ?
soup
soap
slap
slam
seam
seas
sets
nets
nuts
Damn! Mine are always too easy!
Okay, I’ll try to be sweet…
Fudge > Candy
Fudge > Candy
fudge
budge
budgy
buddy
cuddy
caddy
candy
Sharp > Blunt ?
sharp
share
shore
shote - (baby pig)
shots
shops
chops
crops
craps
crabs
grabs
grads
grade
grate
crate
crane
crank
clank
blank
bland
brand
grand
grant
grunt
brunt
blunt
I just can’t find a shorter way to do it, and I’ve tried!
How about um … Tired -> Awake ? I haven’t tried this one yet …
w00t. It works. I’m proud of my solution 'cause I only had to use one dodgy word! 
But I’ll wait and see if someone else does it better before I post it.
nods and shuts up now
TN*hippie doubts me!
sub::runs off crying where JBERGES once was::[/sub]
::yelling from corner::
Oh yeah…what does awake become besides aware? And aware only becomes award…after that subI’m screwed![/sub]
::runs back as if something important is about to be said, waving arms frantically with a piece of paper in hand. clears throat::
death <- STARTING WORD
heath <- an overgrown wasteland
heats <- PLURAL OF HEAT
seats <- PLURAL OF SEAT
slats <- PLURAL OF SLAT
slots <- PLURAL OF SLOT
clots <- PLURAL OF CLOT
clote <- a weedy burdock type plant
clone <- TO COPY EXACTLY
alone <- NOT WITH ANYONE
aline <- alternate to align
alive <- ENDING WORD
Does THAT clear everything up for you damn nitpickers? Jeezum…it’s a wonder anybody gets ANY acceptable chains around here. You people are just jealous because I did it faster and in less words than you [sub]yeah ::snicker:: THAT’S it!::
This is a bit better than Caiata’s
Sharp
share
stare
stars
soars
boars
boats
brats
brans
brand
grand
grant
grunt
brunt
Blunt
And get the hell out of my corner moronmountain!
I may need it…
Which is spelled s-h-o-a-t.
ShibbOleth (who knows way too much about baby pigs), mon petit cochon.
You can also spell it shote… http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=shote
I think I’ve just about given up on Tired > Awake 
Well, it’s not in either of the dictionaries I have at work, I’ll check my unabridged when I get home. But the definition that Dictionary.com gives:
[sub]bolding mine[/sub]
Makes me think this is still a bit of a stretch. It does have a primary listing for some kind of fish, to be fair.
Tired - Awake
Tired
tires
tides
bides
bodes
codes
cores
lores
lords
loads
loans
moans
moats
coats
chats
chars
chare
share
shard
sward
award
aware
Awake
Whew! A couple of obscure words, and way too long, I’m sure someone can patch that up a bit.
Well…continuing:
Tasty -> Bland
Shib - the very first entry from dictionary.com says,
So :P~~~~! 
My solve for “tired -> awake” was
tired
sired
shred
shied
spied
spiel
spill
still
stile
stole
store
spore
spare
sware
aware
awake
Long too, the only dodgy word is “sware” which is listed in dictionary.com as archaic “past tense of swear” … Like I said I put that one up before I tested it, I was tired at the time and it seemed like a good idea 
I’m gettin’ around to the next one … nodsnods
I was suspicious of shote, too.
But it is indeed an alternate spelling of shoat.
Just to let y’all know that I check before I bitch.