Sanelli has earned a solid reputation in the literary and public-speaking community through a steady commitment to writing and through twenty years of successful public readings and presentations. She has published seven collections of poetry, three works of non-fiction, Among Friends, Falling Awake, and A Woman Writing. The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs is her first novel (Chatwin Books). Her  collection of essays, Every Little Thing, has been nominated for a PNBA: Pacific Northwest Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a Washington State Book Award. Her first children's title, Bella Likes to Try, is now available. In So Many Words is her newest title.

Her regular columns appear in the Kitsap Sun, the Bainbridge Islander, Seattle's Pacific Publishing Papers, Art Access magazine, The Queen Anne/Magnolia News, as well as Lilipoh magazine and Dance Teacher magazine. She has written for the Seattle Times, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, Seattle's NPR affiliate station KUOW FM, and many other publications and radio stations. Honorariums include an Artist Trust GAP Award, Poetry on the Buses, A Jack Straw Writers Award, A Seattle Bumbershoot Festival Book Award, The Skagit River Poetry Festival, A GoodReads Notable Book Award, and writing residencies in France, Costa Rica, and Spain.

She presents her work at corporate events, conferences, literary venues, colleges and universities, book clubs, private events, and fundraising salons. "What Sanelli does in front of an audience is easier to recognize than it is to define." -The Seattle Times.

Also a master teacher of Lyrical style contemporary dance, she teaches workshops throughout the world.This professional dance training and performance experience enables her to present with skills that surpass the average author reading.

She lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest.