media kit
Author/Book Coach Photos
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Photos Credits: Courtney Armistead Reprint of photos is permitted for publicity purposes.
2-Line Author/Book Coach Bio
Alissa Butterworth is an editor, certified book coach, educator and award-winning author of To Die Is Different Than Supposed: a novel. She lives in the mid-Atlantic region with her family, which includes a silly rescue hound named Scout and a boisterous preschooler.
Short Author/Book Coach Bio
Alissa Butterworth is an award-winning author, editor, certified book coach, and educator. Her debut novel To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a 19th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in literary fiction and the 2025 Maxy Award runner up in General Fiction and Nonfiction. She's currently working on her next novel and her first short story collection. Alissa has taught creative writing to teens through graduate students and holds a longstanding Writer’s Workshop. She has appeared on television and the radio.
Alissa earned an MFA in fiction from Lesley University and a BA in creative writing and English literature from Franklin & Marshall College. She lives in the mid-Atlantic region with her family, which includes a silly rescue hound named Scout and a boisterous preschooler.
Alissa earned an MFA in fiction from Lesley University and a BA in creative writing and English literature from Franklin & Marshall College. She lives in the mid-Atlantic region with her family, which includes a silly rescue hound named Scout and a boisterous preschooler.
Full Author/Book Coach Bio
Alissa Butterworth is an award-winning author, editor, certified book coach, and educator. She lives in the Mid-Atlantic region with her family, which includes a silly rescue hound named Scout and a boisterous preschooler. She received her MFA in fiction from Lesley University and her BA in creative writing and English literature from Franklin and Marshall College.
Her debut novel To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a 19th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Literary Fiction and the 2025 Maxy Award runner up in General Fiction and Nonfiction. The novel was published in February '25 through River Grove Books.
Her other work, both prose and poetry, has appeared online and in print in such publications as The Alumni Arts Review, Prolog and The Reading Eagle. Her short story "Concerning the Death of Leighton Caulfield" was named an honorable mention in the 11th Annual NYC Midnight Short Story Contest. Alissa was also a finalist in the 2019 NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest. Alissa's short story "The Carriage Held But Just Ourselves" debuted as part of the Satellite Collective's Telephone international Art exhibit in the spring of 2021, and the piece was published in the accompanying print anthology put out by Crosstown Press. Her short story "Girls Who See Gods" is forthcoming in Fall 2025 as part of the next Telephone game.
Alissa is working on her next novel as well as her first short story collection.
In addition to her writing, Alissa teaches creative writing and runs a popular and longstanding Writer's Workshop. She is particularly interested in helping students discover (or rediscover) their own voices and gifts, and to help writers who have become stuck in their process.
Alissa has a rotating roster of other writing and literature classes she teaches in addition to the Workshop. She is also a certified Book Coach in fiction through Author Accelerator, with over ten years' experience as a developmental and managing editor for prose writers.
Her debut novel To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a 19th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Literary Fiction and the 2025 Maxy Award runner up in General Fiction and Nonfiction. The novel was published in February '25 through River Grove Books.
Her other work, both prose and poetry, has appeared online and in print in such publications as The Alumni Arts Review, Prolog and The Reading Eagle. Her short story "Concerning the Death of Leighton Caulfield" was named an honorable mention in the 11th Annual NYC Midnight Short Story Contest. Alissa was also a finalist in the 2019 NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest. Alissa's short story "The Carriage Held But Just Ourselves" debuted as part of the Satellite Collective's Telephone international Art exhibit in the spring of 2021, and the piece was published in the accompanying print anthology put out by Crosstown Press. Her short story "Girls Who See Gods" is forthcoming in Fall 2025 as part of the next Telephone game.
Alissa is working on her next novel as well as her first short story collection.
In addition to her writing, Alissa teaches creative writing and runs a popular and longstanding Writer's Workshop. She is particularly interested in helping students discover (or rediscover) their own voices and gifts, and to help writers who have become stuck in their process.
Alissa has a rotating roster of other writing and literature classes she teaches in addition to the Workshop. She is also a certified Book Coach in fiction through Author Accelerator, with over ten years' experience as a developmental and managing editor for prose writers.
To Die Is Different Than Supposed: A Novel
The estranged Gable siblings return home for their father’s funeral, only to find themselves haunted by the ghost of their dead brother and the long-buried secrets that could finally set them free.
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Book Description
We died by bicycle, by a breakfast gone bad, by a fist, a broken promise, a rowboat, letters no one else was supposed to see.
Twenty years ago, the Gable family was nearly perfect—five siblings growing up in an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania with supposedly loving parents. But when a series of devastating events rocks the family—a house fire, the death of their young brother, infidelity, and betrayal—the siblings are left shattered and lost.
Jackson is the oldest, the distant wanderer. Lex is trapped on the other side, desperately trying to communicate. Adrian is on the verge of a breakdown. Ella is haunted, finding comfort in a familiar ghost. Remy is the embittered “good” son. And Calvin is the youngest, the half-brother trying to make sense of inherited pain.
When the estranged siblings come together for their father’s funeral, they must reckon with his legacy of abuse and abandonment, and with the secrets they kept from each other for so long. Will Jackson find it in himself to tell the horrific story the family most needs to hear? Or will they all be forever trapped by their complicated pasts, unable to move into a more hopeful and united future?
Twenty years ago, the Gable family was nearly perfect—five siblings growing up in an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania with supposedly loving parents. But when a series of devastating events rocks the family—a house fire, the death of their young brother, infidelity, and betrayal—the siblings are left shattered and lost.
Jackson is the oldest, the distant wanderer. Lex is trapped on the other side, desperately trying to communicate. Adrian is on the verge of a breakdown. Ella is haunted, finding comfort in a familiar ghost. Remy is the embittered “good” son. And Calvin is the youngest, the half-brother trying to make sense of inherited pain.
When the estranged siblings come together for their father’s funeral, they must reckon with his legacy of abuse and abandonment, and with the secrets they kept from each other for so long. Will Jackson find it in himself to tell the horrific story the family most needs to hear? Or will they all be forever trapped by their complicated pasts, unable to move into a more hopeful and united future?
- Publisher: River Grove Books
- Publication date: February 4, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 372 pages
- Formats: Paperback, eBook
- Print ISBN-10: 1632999900
- Print ISBN-13: 978-1632999900
- eBook ISBN: 978-1632999917
- Paperback Retail Price: $21.95
- eBook Retail Price: $9.99
- Genre: Literary Fiction
- Subgenres: Family saga, Rural and Small-Town Fiction
- Book Awards:
2025 Maxy Award General Fiction and Nonfiction Runner Up
Readers’ Favorite Five Stars
Purchasing Links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1632999900
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-die-is-different-than-supposed-alissa-butterworth/1146808141?ean=9781632999900
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/to-die-is-different-than-supposed-alissa-butterworth/22214343?ean=9781632999900
Ibooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/to-die-is-different-than-supposed/id6740382427
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Die-Different-Than-Supposed/Alissa-Butterworth/9781632999900?id=9105275542445
For Book Clubs/Bulk Ordering: https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/to-die-is-different-than-supposed--alissa-butterworth/isbn/9781632999900
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-die-is-different-than-supposed-alissa-butterworth/1146808141?ean=9781632999900
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/to-die-is-different-than-supposed-alissa-butterworth/22214343?ean=9781632999900
Ibooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/to-die-is-different-than-supposed/id6740382427
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Die-Different-Than-Supposed/Alissa-Butterworth/9781632999900?id=9105275542445
For Book Clubs/Bulk Ordering: https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/to-die-is-different-than-supposed--alissa-butterworth/isbn/9781632999900
Editorial Reviews/Praise for To Die Is Different Than Supposed
“To Die Is Different Than Supposed is an achingly beautiful tale of loss and longing; of the befores, durings, and afters that intermingle to compose a life; and of the infinite trials, triumphs, joys, miseries, and mysteries of family.”
—Rebecca Kauffman, author of Chorus and I’ll Come to You
“With lyrical prose and piercing insight, Alissa Butterworth delivers an unforgettable exploration of family, grief, and the power of truth to both destroy and heal. The Gable siblings have always been haunted by loss. When their father dies suddenly, they gather for a funeral that will unearth long-buried secrets and reopen old wounds, forcing them to confront their fractured past. To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a poignant exploration of the ties that bind us, even in death.”
—William Lychack, author of Cargill Falls
“Alissa Butterworth has written a haunted and haunting debut novel—a ghost story, literally and figuratively. To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a family drama told by a chorus of wounded sibling narrators reckoning with a tragic past they’ve never been able to outrun. You’ll be hooked by the first words and stunned by the ending. The moment you finish this moving novel, you’ll immediately want to begin again.”
—Nicholas Montemarano, author of If There Are Any Heavens
“To Die Is Different Than Supposed relates the arduous passage of a family from the depths of disintegration and rancor to the seemingly impossible aggregation of their souls. Told with raw honesty, Butterworth reveals multiple layers of disappointment, broken dreams, and promises. She peeks into hearts full of hurt, into the secrets that have torn the family apart. Butterworth is a testament to Tolstoy’s dictum, ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ But there are rings of fire and the redemption that comes from traversing them. Upon the death of the patriarch, when all the masks have fallen, in front of a mythical funeral pyre, a triumphant bond of love is forged going forward into the future. This is an impressive debut novel to be cherished.”
—Jorge Armenteros, author of The Curvature of an Absence
“To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a deeply moving and suspenseful story that centers around the death of James Gable, a celebrated, all-American contemporary poet, who was in equal measures loved and feared, hated and admired by his emotionally-struggling family, a vulnerable and engaging crew that includes his current (and second) wife, an ex-wife, and six children, one of the latter deceased. Gable’s children grapple, often alone and at odds with each other, with the legacy of their neglectful, complicated, and self-absorbed father. My favorite character was Jackson, the eldest son and the most rebellious and tortured of the family members, but he also sets an impressive example with his tough and independent spirit. I addictively followed the trajectory of Jackson’s thoughts and emotions as he witnesses a horrific tragedy and then, the fracturing of his family. Although each character has in his or her own way been damaged by the destructive words and actions of the deceased patriarch, all—even if only in spirit, with Lex—will survive him in this heartbreaking and tender story about family and loss.”
—Margaret Chen, author of Suburban Gothic and Three Terrible Tales
“A compassionate and ruthless debut, To Die Is Different Than Supposed demonstrates the infinite ways families can be haunted, and how hurts can slide forward and back in time. Butterworth offers tragedy and hope through the Gable siblings, providing a fascinating exploration of how they wrap their personalities around the adults who love them and fail them—and how they rescue and reclaim themselves.”
—E.A. Petricone, Shirley Jackson Award–winning author of We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It
—Rebecca Kauffman, author of Chorus and I’ll Come to You
“With lyrical prose and piercing insight, Alissa Butterworth delivers an unforgettable exploration of family, grief, and the power of truth to both destroy and heal. The Gable siblings have always been haunted by loss. When their father dies suddenly, they gather for a funeral that will unearth long-buried secrets and reopen old wounds, forcing them to confront their fractured past. To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a poignant exploration of the ties that bind us, even in death.”
—William Lychack, author of Cargill Falls
“Alissa Butterworth has written a haunted and haunting debut novel—a ghost story, literally and figuratively. To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a family drama told by a chorus of wounded sibling narrators reckoning with a tragic past they’ve never been able to outrun. You’ll be hooked by the first words and stunned by the ending. The moment you finish this moving novel, you’ll immediately want to begin again.”
—Nicholas Montemarano, author of If There Are Any Heavens
“To Die Is Different Than Supposed relates the arduous passage of a family from the depths of disintegration and rancor to the seemingly impossible aggregation of their souls. Told with raw honesty, Butterworth reveals multiple layers of disappointment, broken dreams, and promises. She peeks into hearts full of hurt, into the secrets that have torn the family apart. Butterworth is a testament to Tolstoy’s dictum, ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ But there are rings of fire and the redemption that comes from traversing them. Upon the death of the patriarch, when all the masks have fallen, in front of a mythical funeral pyre, a triumphant bond of love is forged going forward into the future. This is an impressive debut novel to be cherished.”
—Jorge Armenteros, author of The Curvature of an Absence
“To Die Is Different Than Supposed is a deeply moving and suspenseful story that centers around the death of James Gable, a celebrated, all-American contemporary poet, who was in equal measures loved and feared, hated and admired by his emotionally-struggling family, a vulnerable and engaging crew that includes his current (and second) wife, an ex-wife, and six children, one of the latter deceased. Gable’s children grapple, often alone and at odds with each other, with the legacy of their neglectful, complicated, and self-absorbed father. My favorite character was Jackson, the eldest son and the most rebellious and tortured of the family members, but he also sets an impressive example with his tough and independent spirit. I addictively followed the trajectory of Jackson’s thoughts and emotions as he witnesses a horrific tragedy and then, the fracturing of his family. Although each character has in his or her own way been damaged by the destructive words and actions of the deceased patriarch, all—even if only in spirit, with Lex—will survive him in this heartbreaking and tender story about family and loss.”
—Margaret Chen, author of Suburban Gothic and Three Terrible Tales
“A compassionate and ruthless debut, To Die Is Different Than Supposed demonstrates the infinite ways families can be haunted, and how hurts can slide forward and back in time. Butterworth offers tragedy and hope through the Gable siblings, providing a fascinating exploration of how they wrap their personalities around the adults who love them and fail them—and how they rescue and reclaim themselves.”
—E.A. Petricone, Shirley Jackson Award–winning author of We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It
Sample Press Release for To Die Is Different Than Supposed
Sample Social Media Post for To Die Is Different Than Supposed
Sample Media Appearances addressing To Die Is Different Than Supposed, book coaching, creative writing and beyond
- Featured Guest on Liisa Kovala's Women Writing Substack blog: Check out Alissa's feature on "creating space to write and writing advice" (Liisa Kovala).
- Featured Guest on Liisa Kovala's Women Writing Podcast: Episode 15: Coffee Break with Alissa Butterworth
- Virtual Book Launch of To Die Is Different Than Supposed: Check out the launch on Youtube here.
Sample Author Interview Questions
Sample Book Club/Reader's Guide Questions
The full Media Kit is available for download below.
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