The first time Angela Martin wore her wedding dress she was 22 years old, fresh out of college and determined to be the perfect wife.

These days when she wears the dress she is laughing at herself and promoting her book “How to Ruin Your Ex-Husband’s Life One Day at a Time.”

The book’s success has taken the Williamston native all the way to Hollywood, where the lighthearted guide to overcoming divorce was placed into gift bags celebrities received at the 2008 Prime Time Emmy Awards.

In Hollywood, Martin handed out copies of her book to celebrities, dining with them and getting their relationship advice for her Web site.

When she visited New York, she wore a wedding dress as she stood in the crowd outside the CBS Early Show studios. When producers noticed her outfit, they asked about her story and she got five minutes of airtime on the show.

On a recent trip to Chicago, she went to the home of Gail King, talk show host and best friend to Oprah Winfrey. She hand-delivered the book and shared her story of overcoming divorce.

Each time, she wore a wedding dress.

At a recent book signing at AnMed Health’s Cancer Center, Martin wore her original wedding dress, hot pink books and a matching pink hat, a pink holster with toy guns at her sides and a sash that read “Bride Not-to-Be.”

Her white, sequined train dragged the floor as she signed books and talked to fans. Martin wasn’t worried about ruining the dress. She has bought four more for her appearances at book-promoting events.

After her 11-year marriage ended, Martin felt alone and ashamed. She felt betrayed as some of her relationships with other people disintegrated because she was no longer married. Along the way, she jumped back into the dating scene.

One day while she was contemplating these experiences, she and a friend came up with the idea for the book.

But Martin was working full-time as a physician’s assistant and taking care of her young daughter alone.

“I had always wanted to write a book, and this was the perfect subject,” Martin said. “But I realized I was never going to write the book if I didn’t quit my job.”

While Martin wrestled with the decision, her close friend died suddenly.

“It really made me think, you know, you don’t always get a chance to realize your dreams.”

So she left her job and began writing a few weeks later. At first, she penned chapters like “When Your In-Laws become Out-Laws,” “The Spite Diet” and “Post Marital Sex.”

Then she put her painful, humorous and embarrassing experiences into words. The topics, which sometimes make her mother blush, include how to make your ex-husband jealous (Martin suggests renting a fancy car and making him think it’s yours), learning how to please yourself without a man and making new friends.

“Going through a divorce will change you, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse,” Martin said. “The best compliment I get is when women come to me in tears saying how I have helped them to get over the hurt and move on with their lives.”

Martin will be a repeat guest on the Jack and Kimberly Show, filmed in downtown Greenville for WSPA on Nov. 5.

But she might not wear a wedding dress. She did that the first time she was on the show in September. Look for a pink dress and a bone in Martin’s hair. 

The woman is a stick figure with a club in her hand, and her ex-husband is laying on the ground beneath her with a black eye, a broken leg and a knot on his head.

It looks like his life is ruined.